In this issue:
February 9th, Monday, 6:00 PM Board Meeting @ Birdcage Lounge
March 23rd, Monday, 6:00 PM General Membership Meeting @ Plymouth Library
April 27th, Monday, 6:00 PM MANG-MDOT Safety Seminar @ Plymouth Library
May 2nd, Saturday, 8:00 AM Plane Wash & 11:00 AM BBQ @ MANG Hangars
May 11th, Monday, 6:00 PM Board Meeting @ Birdcage Lounge
June 13th, Saturday, 8:00 AM Plane Wash & 11:00 AM BBQ &
General Membership
July 13th, Monday, 6:00 PM Board Meeting @ Birdcage Lounge
August 8th, Saturday, 8:00 AM Plane Wash & 11:00 AM BBQ @ MANG Hangars
September 14th, Monday, 6:00 PM General Membership Meeting @ Plymouth Library
October 10th, Saturday, 8:00 AM Plane Wash & 11:00 AM BBQ @ MANG Hangers
November 9th, Monday, 6:00 PM Board Meeting @ Birdcage Lounge
December 5th, Friday, 6:00 PM Holiday Party & General Membership
Election @ TBD
At the January Board Meeting, the following Officers were reappointed:
Paul Fortino - Chief Maintenance
Larry Millen - Archer Maintenance
Mario Pechia - Cessna Maintenance
Bruce Anderson - Warrior Maintenance
John Keck - Safety/Training
Dale Thorsby - Operations
Steve Thornburg, who has been our Club president for the past three years, has had to resign from MANG due to a job relocation. Steve helped put our Club on a firmer foundation by getting the membership limit raised to 55. He encouraged the collection and analysis of Club statistics. His business-like approach was a great asset to our Club. We wish you well, Steve, and hope to see you back in MANG some day.
In addition to Steve, we also received resignations from Dennis Ward and Richard Harris. That leaves four open slots in our membership. So if you find anyone that is looking for a way to fly, we could use four more members to keep our Club viable.
Safety/Training Officer John Keck has been trying to set up a tour of the ATC facilities at Detroit Metro. So far more than 25 of you have responded with some interest. If any of you would like to bring a family member or other guest, then please let John know. We are not sure at the moment what security checks may be necessary for those without an airport ID badge, but let John know anyway so he will know what sort of demand there might be for bringing guests. A date has not yet been set, but John will contact you directly with that information if you have made your wishes known to him.
Operations Officer Dale Thorsby has noticed and cleaned up several large puddles of water, especially in the Cessna hangar. He thinks it may be leaking under the door because of snow pile-up outside. But he can't be there every day. If you happen to be there and see a puddle, please feel free to pick up a mop or other tool of your choice and deal with it. Puddles like that can be a safety hazard, and they do no good for our planes or the hangar floor.
In these icy times, it can be hard to move the planes in and out of the hangars. Please be careful and don't slip and fall! If the surface is too icy to get the traction you need, then you can use the kitty litter (the stuff we use to soak up spilled oil) and spread some on the ice. You can find some on the supply shelves. (Salt is not allowed anywhere around the hangars! - Airport rules). And for putting the planes away, if you have never used the winches before, now might be a good time to try them. Each hangar has one. Just hook on to the eye hole on the under side of the tail of the plane and crank carefully.
Anyone Have a Computer to Donate?
The computer in the MANG office was donated years ago by Dino DiNatale. He hoped that we could have a flight simulator there for members to use. Unfortunately that old Windows 98 system is missing some software drivers for the flight simulator yoke controller, so it doesn't quite work. But if anyone has an old Windows XP or 2000 computer around that they would like to donate, maybe we could update this flight simulator station and get it working . Dino has the basic flight simulator software. So contact him if you have something that might be useful.
Dr. Gordon Moves Back to Plymouth
If you use Dr. Gordon for aviation medicals you may want to know that he has moved back to his old offices on Main Street in Plymouth. (He has been in temporary offices in Livonia while his old offices were being remodeled.) Here is the information:
Robert J. Gordon, D.O.
965 S, Main St. - Plymouth, Michigan 48170
734455-3530 - Fax 734-455-5050
Email: DrGordon@PilotDr.com
Web page: http://www.PilotDr.com
Our pump prices have not come down as much as the automotive fuel, so we still have a fuel surcharge for February. The surcharge remains the same at $5 / hr. Therefore the charge for flying hours is:
|
Cessna and Warrior: |
$75 + $5 surcharge = $80 / hour |
|
Archer: |
$80 + $5 surcharge = $85 / hour |
Here are the statistics for 2008, and for December:
|
(Total HOURS) |
54115 |
43755 |
33149 |
All Aircraft |
|
December 2008: |
2.6 |
2.9 |
10.6 |
16.1 |
|
Total for all of 2008: |
239.6 |
169.6 |
248.5 |
657.7 |
Here are the top flyers in terms of flight hours for the month:
|
Steve Thornburg |
2.5 |
|
Dale Thorsby |
2.4 |
|
John Keck |
2.2 |
|
Dave LaPointe |
2.2 |
|
Paul Plumley |
2.0 |
|
David Brent |
1.9 |
For the year 2008, here are the top flyers:
|
Bruce Anderson |
45.7 |
|
Rod Lelental |
44.1 |
|
Paul Plumley |
38.7 |
|
Brian Bayer |
36.7 |
|
Marcel Mikulec |
32.4 |
|
John Keck |
31.2 |